85297.mp4

The file was nestled in a folder titled “Archive_1998” on a drive Elias had found in his late father’s workshop. While thousands of other files were named with dates and locations—"Christmas94," "Grandpa_Fishing"—this one was just a string of five digits.

When Elias double-clicked it, the media player struggled. The timestamp read 0:00, but the progress bar showed a total length of forty-two minutes.

For the first ten minutes, nothing happened. Just the sound of rain against the glass and the distant clink of ceramic mugs. Then, a man walked into the frame and sat down. It was his father, thirty years younger, looking frantic. He kept checking his watch and looking at the door.